Special Education at Western Governors University

What traits are you looking for in a special ed school? To help you decide if Western Governors University is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's special ed program.

WGU is located in Salt Lake City, Utah and has a total student population of 147,866. Of the 26,612 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Western Governors University in 2021, 836 of them were special education majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Special Education section at the bottom of this page.

WGU Special Education Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Special Ed
• Master’s Degree in Special Ed

Online Classes Are Available at WGU

If you are a working student or have a busy schedule, you may want to consider taking online classes. While these classes used to be mostly populated by returning adults, more and more traditional students are turning to this option.

For those who are interested in distance learning, WGU does offer online courses in special ed for the following degree levels:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Master’s Degree

WGU Special Education Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the special ed progam at WGU compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The special ed major at WGU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Special Education. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Most Popular Online Special Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	1
Best Value Special Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	3
Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	9
Best Special Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	26
Best Special Education Schools	73
	123
Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	133
	163
Most Focused Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	269

In 2021, 420 students received their master’s degree in special ed from WGU. This makes it the #6 most popular school for special ed master’s degree candidates in the country.

Earnings of WGU Special Ed Graduates

The median salary of special ed students who receive their bachelor's degree at WGU is $39,431. This is 2% higher than $38,748, which is the national average for all special ed bachelor's degree recipients.

Special Ed Student Demographics at WGU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the special ed majors at Western Governors University.

WGU Special Education Bachelor’s Program

Of the 836 students who earned a bachelor's degree in Special Education from WGU in 2020-2021, 12% were men and 88% were women.

About 81% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in special ed at WGU are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Governors University with a bachelor's in special ed.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	6
Black or African American	23
Hispanic or Latino	67
White	680
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	60

WGU Special Education Master’s Program

Of the 420 students who earned a master's degree in Special Education from WGU in 2020-2021, 14% were men and 86% were women.

Of the students who received a special ed master's degree from WGU, 79% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Governors University with a master's in special ed.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	2
Black or African American	10
Hispanic or Latino	17
White	330
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	61

WGU also has a doctoral program available in special ed. In 2021, 0 student graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Teaching English or French
• Educational Administration
• Educational Assessment
• Teacher Education Subject Specific
• Instructional Media Design

Careers That Special Ed Grads May Go Into

A degree in special ed can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for UT, the home state for Western Governors University.

Occupation	Jobs in UT	Average Salary in UT
Interpreters and Translators	1,560	$43,830
Kindergarten or Elementary School Special Education Teachers	1,490	$46,320
Special Education Professors	1,170	$46,820
Middle School Special Education Teachers	630	$50,620
Special Education Preschool Teachers	270	$48,260

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online

More about our data sources and methodologies.